“I’m kind of like banished royalty and you’re … upper class white trash,” recited poet Mike McGee as he reflected on the loneliness he felt when interacting with the wealthy.

Spoken word performer and comedian McGee, who goes by the name Mighty Mike McGee, is the 2018-19 Santa Clara County Poet Laureate. McGee was invited to the school by English teacher Amy Keys, who said she got to know him through alumna Kaitlyn Wang, who met him on the local Spoken Word circuit, as well as on past trips with poetry club students to the Poetry Out Loud competition, where McGee is a judge. 

In the Creative Writing class, McGee recited several of his poems and led a writing activity where students thought back to 10 interesting moments in their lives and expanded one into a poem or a piece of flash fiction.

In the poetry club, he led a workshop where he led a discussion about poetry, recited some poems and hosted a question and answer session about himself.

“Aside from meeting the legend himself, we wanted to gain a little insight from a professional on how slam poetry and spoken word works, since we’re competing in Poetry Out Loud in the spring,” poetry club president senior Michael Tang said.

During the club meeting, McGee explained how as a Poet Laureate, he travels where the county sends him and performs poetry. He also does outreach around the country, helping to engage people of all ages with poetry. He encourages interested students to continue to keep poetry a part of their lives after graduation.

“I am convinced that performance poetry is going to be kept alive by people your age, that you will be the ones to keep it going, keep people interested in it, and to let it be something that passes along to future generations,” McGee said at the meeting. “It is up to you to find and discover.”

McGee said that he got into poetry when a close friend brought him to an open mic at a café in downtown San Jose after noting his potential as a stand-up comedian. There, after watching a couple of his friends recite memorized poems, he was intrigued by how dynamic the oral presentation made poems sound and set out to write his own poems.

He got heavily involved in the local scene, participating in every poetry slam he could. After about five years, he went to the American National Poetry Slam and won an individual championship. Following his victory, McGee toured the country for about 11 years, winning the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship in 2006. He has also published a collection of his poems in his book “In Search of Midnight.”

Now, McGee spends his time writing poems, often sticking with his comedic personality. He also puts on poetry events, like visiting schools to give workshops.

Keys was glad to see her students’ positive reactions to McGee’s visit. She said some students demonstrated interest in participating in open mics in the future. It was also a fun introduction to the Creative Writing class’s own Poetry Performance Playoffs, where students memorized and performed a poem from the Poetry Out Loud website.

“I’m always thrilled to see students passionate about words and their impacts,” Keys said, “and inviting McGee was another way to engage with the language.”